In celebration of the film festival’s 20th year, in-person viewings and panels return to The Broad Theater and The Broadside, March 23-26, with film topics ranging in issues from Indigenous midwifery to Louisiana frontline communities fighting climate change.
NEW ORLEANS — The Patois New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival is pleased to announce the films programmed for its 2023 film festival, slated for Thursday, March 23 through Sunday, March 26, 2023. In-person screenings and panels will take place at The Broad Theater and The Broadside.
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What: 2023 Patois New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival
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When: Thursday, March 23 through Sunday, March 26, 2023
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Where: The Broad Theater 636 N. Broad St and The Broadside at 600 N. Broad St.
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Website Link: www.patoisfilmfest.org/patois2023
In addition to the films, the 2023 Patois New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival will include live presentations/panels, performances and immersive programming. The full lineup of films is included below.
2023 Patois New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival Lineup + Schedule
Thursday, March 23
The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales
Directed by Abigail Disney and Kathleen Hughes, 1 hour 27 minutes
Abigail Disney looks at America’s dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less. As a way to imagine a more equitable future, Disney uses her family’s story to explore how this systemic injustice took hold.
Premieres at 6:45 PM at The Broad Theater
(Panel discussion with Director Abigail Disney and local labor organizers to follow screening)
Friday, March 24
Give Light: Stories from Indigenous Midwives
Directed by Steph Smith, 55 minutes
In penetrating interviews, nine indigenous midwives from five continents discuss the benefits and challenges to their profession. Give Light examines traditional midwifery, juxtaposed with modern obstetrics to bridge the gap between traditional wisdom and modern technology.
Premieres at 7:00 PM at The Broad Theater
(Panel discussion with local doula collective and Indigenous organizers to follow screening)
Louisiana Climate Justice Screening & Benefit Concert
Between March 18th and the 25th, Louisiana for a Green New Deal will host a Week of Action as part of Stop the Money Pipeline’s national Shareholder Showdown campaign. As part of this week of action, and in partnership with Healthy Gulf, Louisiana Just Recovery Network, and Frontline Media Network, the Patois Film Festival will screen three short films amplifying frontline climate crisis issues and end the night with local musical acts. Funds raised will go towards the Louisiana Just Recovery Network.
Premieres at 9:00 PM at The Broadside
(Panel discussion with frontline residents to follow screening)
Saturday, March 25
Camille Billops and James Hatch Retrospective
Suzanne, Suzanne
Directed by Camille Billops and James Hatch, 25 minutes
One of the many films that Camille Billops and James Hatch made centering on Billops’s family, Suzanne, Suzanne presents a devastating portrait of the artist’s niece, haunted by the abuse she suffered as a child and the passivity of the family members who allowed it to continue.
Finding Christa
Directed by Camille Billops and James Hatch, 55 minutes
This startlingly personal documentary presents a moving yet unsentimental view of motherhood and adoption. It explores the feelings surrounding the reunion of a young woman with her birth mother twenty years after being given up for adoption. The reunion is between filmmaker Camille Billops and her own daughter, Christa. Facing the re-encounter with mixed emotions, Billops interrogates her family and friends as well as her own motivations. The result is an original and daring work that challenges social biases about adoption and offers new insight into mother-daughter relationships.
Premieres at 4:00 PM at The Broad Theater
(Panel discussion with performance artist Kai Barrow and Director Ada Gay Griffin to follow screening)
Angola, Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison + End Plantation Prisons Screenings
Angola, Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison
Directed by Cinque Northern, 27 minutes
Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison tells the story of playwright Liza Jessie Peterson’s 2020 performance of her acclaimed play The Peculiar Patriot at Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary, America’s largest prison.
End Plantation Prisons
Presented by the Promise of Justice Initiative
Louisiana has forced incarcerated people to work for more than 300 years. Today, nearly 30,000 people in LA are serving hard labor sentences and are forced to work. Hear the stories of people directly impacted as part of the Promise of Justice Initiative video project.
Premieres at 6:30 PM at The Broad Theater
(Panel discussion with formerly incarcerated people and organizers working to end prisons to follow screening)
100 Ways To Cross The Border
Directed by Amber Bemark, 84 minutes
100 Ways to Cross the Border is a performative and hybrid documentary film about a 40-year career of radical artistic practice. The prolific Mexican/Chicano performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña enacts his interventions by “queering the border-” claiming all borders as queer and liminal spaces.
Premieres at 9:00 PM at The Broad Theater
(Panel discussion with local immigration justice activists and performance artists to follow screening)
Sunday, March 26
Let the Little Light Shine
Directed by Ken Shaw, 82 minutes
Parents and students at a top-ranked African American elementary school fight to save the institution after it’s threatened with replacement by a school favoring wealthy families.
Premieres at 4:30 PM at The Broad Theater
(Panel discussion with local education/youth justice organizations and organizers to follow)
Patois Shorts Program
Brilliant short films from Detroit to Palestine to New Orleans:
Night – Directed by Ahmad Saleh, 16 minutes
Siri Miri – Directed by Luay Awwad, 5 minutes
The Funnel – Directed by Charlene Carruthers, 17 minutes
Street Pulse Beat – Directed by Allí Logout & Juicebox Burton, 8 minutes
Take Your Bags – Directed by Camille Billops, 11 minutes
Hush – Samar Qupty, 18 minutes
Freshwater – Directed by dream hampton, 11 minutes
Premieres at 7:00 PM at The Broad Theater
Festival goers can purchase a festival pass for $50 ($40 for Patois members) or individual screening tickets for $12 ($8 for Patois members) at www.patoisfilmfest.org/patois2023.
The Patois New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival is programmed by collective members Jordan Flaherty, Jason Foster, jazz franklin, Shana M. griffin, Emily Ratner, and Zaferhan Yumru. The Patois New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival is supported by organizations and partners including Threshold Foundation, Antenna/Paper Machine, Gallery of the Streets, New Orleans Film Society, PUNCTUATE, The Broad Theater, WBOK, and WHIV.
About Patois New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival
Founded in 2004 by artists and activists in New Orleans, PATOIS has premiered hundreds of powerful social justice-oriented films from around the world while highlighting brilliant local filmmakers and vital grassroots organizations. PATOIS is dedicated to nurturing New Orleans’ human rights community, supporting the work of organizers and organizations involved in these struggles, and providing a forum for artistic expression of local and international issues. In addition to the film festival in spring, PATOIS hosts a variety of community screenings, workshops and organizing events throughout the year.
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